Ireland, Lost and Leaving Coming Here Soon

This programme contains some strong language

'In Greece, young people are rioting. In Ireland, a generation is checking out.'

I hope the sacrifice is worth it. 'And in Japan, my age group can't even find love.'

"Let's get married! Nice guy, nice face.

"Whatever. Just soon."

They're just all asking for husbands.

'I'm Stacey Dooley, and in this series I'll be travelling the world

'to find out what it's like to be young and caught up in

'the worst economic crisis in living memory.'

The sign basically says, if you're here to take your own life

because you're so worried about money, don't.

'I'm going behind the headlines to see what it all could mean for us

'back at home.' You should never think

it could never be you, cos it could.

'This week, I'm heading to Ireland to see how the country is coping

'after virtually running out of money several years ago.'

I'm 45 minutes away from my home town. This is devastating.

'I'll meet young families facing homelessness and bankruptcy.'

It's an absolute disgrace.

So get your finger out and do something about it.

'Watch on as my generation are forced out.'

It's not that I'm going because I want to go,

I'm going cos I have to go.

'And witness the reality for those left behind.'

Welcome to Ireland! 2012!

'Last week I was in Greece, a nation in the eye of the storm.

'I found anger...'

They must be beyond desperation for that to be an answer.

'..And distress.'

Oh, my God, there's someone up there.

'But also a determination to not be beaten.'

-Snails!

-This is our last challenge.

'Now I have come to Ireland to find out what could happen next.'

Look! I'm home!

I'm half-Irish. It's my crowd, look!

'Four years since the country nearly went bust,

'I want to see how they're coping.'

Ireland was the first country in the whole of Europe to enter recession,

so it's a big deal. Just going to see how it's affected the young people

and what sort of state they're in now.

This trip is sort of different to any others

because my father was Irish,

my family, I've got a lot here, and I could have grown up here,

yeah, of course. It's very close to home.

So when I'm having a chat with young people who've been affected,

it could very easily have been me.

So that just makes it all the more personal, I think, yeah.

'Not so long ago, Ireland was the poster child

'for economic growth, so powerful it was dubbed the Celtic Tiger.'

NEWSREADER: The Republic has become one of the fastest-growing economies in the world.

'But its economic swagger wasn't to last.'

CHANTING

-NEWSREADER:

-'Ireland enjoyed its boom.

'Now, even these protesters probably accept

'a price must be paid for the bust.'

-NEWSREADER:

-'On the streets of Dublin tonight, they were calling this

'Ireland's Black Thursday.'

'When the crash came, the country was left so strapped for cash

'that our neighbours had to borrow billions from other countries

'to avoid going broke.'

After years of plenty, the Irish are realising

life may never be the same again.

'Now I'm here to find out how Ireland's faring

'a few years down the line.'

'I'm staying right in the heart of Dublin, an area called Temple Bar,

'well-known for its party scene, and spirits seem high.'

They must know I'm half-Irish.

It's the red hair and the white skin.

'My first impression of Ireland

'isn't that of a country reeling from a crisis.

'But I quickly discover all is not what it seems.'

-Our streets!

-Whose streets?

-Our streets.

People's belongings were stolen by the guards yesterday.

All the paperwork from the camp, minutes of meetings.

Literally walking back to the hotel and I've managed to stumble across

some kind of Occupy movement. I don't know a great deal about it.

There's Irish flags everywhere,

lots going on, so I just came to see what the craic is, really.

We march en masse into Pearce Street.

CHEERING

Let's go!

'This group, like the ones we've seen on the news at home,

'is part of the global Occupy movement,

'which has sprung up in response to the economic crisis.'

I just don't know what's going on.

It seems to be getting bigger and bigger, more and more people

seem to be joining at the side of the street.

It's insane, completely insane!

Occupy Main Street!

'The protesters explain that they don't think

'the Irish people should be paying higher taxes

'for mistakes made by banks and politicians.

'We're approaching the busiest part of Dublin,

'and the demonstrators decide to block the road,

'to draw attention to their cause.'

-Who's to blame? Who got you here?

-The government.

It's out of control with cronyism,

with developers getting money from banks that had no regulation,

complete corruption from the bottom up.

It's horrible that that's happened.

And the elites of this country are not feeling the pain.

Austerity has been forced on the people at the bottom,

and it's wrong, and that's why we're here.

'But as we get closer to the Garda station,

'I feel the atmosphere suddenly change.'

SHOUTING

The police...

Move back! Move back!

He literally pushed me against a car.

No wonder these people are frustrated,

no wonder these people are upset.

Doing absolutely nothing wrong.

Brutality!

Shame! Shame!

I mean, if you could just see this guy.

Threw me straight into the Garda car.

I was pushed by a policeman. For reporting this.

-I was backing up you, actually!

-I'm so sorry.

-No, it's grand.

-It's not your fault.

It was you and other people, it's grand. Don't worry about it.

-But yeah.

-I'm just blown away. I cannot believe

this is allowed to continue.

They're meant to serve and protect. What the fuck is this?

All we're doing is marching and standing up for our rights peacefully, and they batter us.

That's disgraceful.

People cannot have a peaceful assembly outside a Garda station.

These are public servants. We are the public, who wanted

a peaceful protest outside, and we're not allowed.

Welcome to Ireland. 2012.

'Despite the police presence, the protesters are staying put.'

'And are keen to share with me their motivation for being here.'

I've been self-employed my entire life, and I lost my business

due to this recession.

And my plan was to hand that over to my kids, my business.

But now it's gone.

And so my kids have to make it on their own. What can one man do?

I just can't believe what's just happened.

I'm 45 min away from my home town, and I've been....

-Exactly.

-It's unreal.

-In a European democracy.

-Yeah.

People are demonstrating about something they're passionate about,

that might affect them in the future.

Look at the amount of people demonstrating, and look at the amount of guards.

Do you feel like it's the normal Irish person on the street

-that is the hardest hit?

-Absolutely.

And this is what we're met with.

'It's the end of my first day in Ireland,

'and things here are worse than I thought.'

The reason we're seeing scenes like this, the reason things like this are happening

is because normal Irish people have just had enough,

and they feel like have to come out and try and protest.

And they feel passionately about it,

so we have to listen to what they've got to say.

'Getting caught up in a protest has left me with a lot of questions.'

'I've arranged to meet a couple of the demonstrators,

'to find out what made them take action.'

Nice to see you again.

-All a bit calmer since the last time I saw you.

-A bit calmer, yeah.

Thanks ever so much, guys, for letting me come and hang out with you,

I was just keen to have a chat. You have to shed some light for me.

1995, around, we started having a massive economic boom.

But the whole economy was based on a property market,

a property bubble. And once the housing market collapsed,

-the whole Irish economy collapsed.

-All of a sudden things came down

around people, and in a typical Irish way,

for a while we pretend everything is fine -

"grand" is a great word! - but even from my point of view,

OK, I don't consider myself an activist or protester,

but I could see people around me suffering.

'Occupy feel that the hardship their generation is now facing

'is the direct result of the Irish banks' reckless lending.'

The banks went to the Irish government and said,

"We are failing as a business.

"The banks are going to collapse tomorrow." And it was the next day.

-Is that right?

-People would not be able to take money out of ATMs.

So an Irish man would have went down the road, put his card in the hole in the wall,

and he wouldn't have been able to get any euros out? It was that near?

That was the threat, that the banks were saying would happen,

if we didn't bail them out. And they'd say to us, like, we went mad with borrowing, you went mad.

-As though...

-Yeah, like you went on a shopping...

Young people in Ireland are the ones who are going to be paying it,

and the children, my children will be paying these.

It's actually crazy debt that's impossible to ever pay.

It seems very clear now, you know, the Irish economy, a lot of it

relied on this property boom, I mean,

it was a massive property bubble for couple of years,

and banks were giving out all this money for this to happen.

It was money they didn't have. Banks have gone to the government and said, "We've got no money,

"you have to bail us out." The government haven't got the money,

so Europe have to bail the government out.

You know, so that's why Ireland is where it is now, in a nutshell.

So I feel a lot more in the know, I feel all clued up,

revved up, can't wait to learn more.

'When the economy was booming, around 100 billion euros in loans

'was given out, mainly to fund Ireland's colossal property bubble.'

A lot of that money was in development and construction,

so I'm off to go and see where this money ended up, where was it spent?

'A couple of hours outside the capital are the Irish Midlands,

'which saw huge amounts of cash pour in during the Celtic Tiger.

'I'm meeting up with Fintan McGill, from Ireland's largest estate agent.'

Good morning! How's things? Are you well?

'He's been in the business since the early '90s,

'and witnessed first-hand Europe's biggest property boom.'

Maybe the best thing to do is go out, show you some of these places.

-Is that OK?

-Brilliant, will we make a move? Thanks, Fintan.

-What was really going on?

-The big thing was

there were so many houses being built, so many new developments started,

everyone was at it. I mean, everybody was at it.

This is absolutely nuts.

Here we are in Battery Court. This is an example

of a project that ran into difficulty, and the banks

took it over way back in about 2007, 2008.

Some of them were selling at the time for nearly half a million.

They're down to about 170, 180,000.

It's crazy. I mean literally, there's houses here,

they've got no roofs, they've got no windows.

Was it literally one day, the boom was totally happening,

building, building, the next day, we haven't got?

Near enough, yes. It literally came to a grinding halt

over the space of a few weeks.

Money literally dried up.

We were all told that the thing would have a soft landing.

"It'll last for six months and it'll be all over,

"and we'll get back to where we were, and keep going. Soft landing."

You know, I can tell you that there wasn't even a runway.

-It was just, it just hit us so hard.

-Wow.

'And this is just the tip of the iceberg. As we drive around,

'the landscape is littered with these ghost estates.'

'I'm now starting to understand how Ireland almost bankrupted itself.'

Was the demand for this constant construction?

-Because Ireland isn't that populated.

-In rural areas,

there was absolutely no demand.

-I don't think there's anyone living here.

-No.

Visually, I think for me this just hammers home

how insane it must have been

in the boom years, and where Ireland is now.

-Are we allowed to hop out and have a look inside?

-I suppose you are.

Go round and have a look.

-I've never seen anything like it.

-Have you not?

It's crazy, cos you just think how beautiful it could be.

Could've been lovely. I remember coming in here at the beginning,

and there probably was 50, 60 people working here.

-That's 50, 60 men out of work.

-Yes. The cycle went on.

-It's mind-blowing.

-Isn't it?

I just find this particularly interesting because I'm 25,

and I would love my own little place, you know,

and I'm stood here just thinking, if I came here to view this

and thought I was going to have it, I would be so made up,

and then for it to not be finished, my heart would be broken.

You hear these great figures bandied around

of the number of derelict estates around the country.

I've heard people say there was 2,500. I don't know exactly how many.

And not the worst in Ireland, absolutely not.

SHE SIGHS

'It's crazy to think that hundreds of thousands of homes are sat here empty

'when back at home, we're in desperate need of new housing.'

Developers were literally throwing houses up left, right and centre

and no one's sat in them. They're empty. No-one can sell.

Very few can buy. This is devastating.

However, some houses did get snapped up during the boom,

many by young people desperate to get on the property ladder.

But for some, their dreams soon became a nightmare

when they realised what they'd spent their hard-earned cash on.

There's actually a high-profile case in Dublin, Priory Hall,

where the residents literally had to be evacuated from their own homes,

they were so unsafe.

'One of them has agreed to talk to me

'and I'm catching up with her at her mum's house.'

DOORBELL RINGS

-Hello!

-Hello.

-You must be Sinead.

-I am, hello.

-I'm Stacey. Thanks for having me.

-Hello, Stacey. No problem.

'Six months ago, the council gave residents 48 hours

'to evacuate all 187 flats

'when it came to light that the fireproofing was so inadequate

'that their homes could have burnt to the ground in minutes.'

Wow. This is just nuts, isn't it?

'Sinead's now paying the price in more ways than one.'

So right now, we're paying mortgages on homes we can't live in

-and don't know when we'll live in again.

-Just so I'm clear, Sinead,

you're still paying a mortgage for a house you're not able to live in?

The bank want their money.

The bank don't care that I can't live in my home.

It sounds crazy, but that's the way it is.

It was buzzing with young families and now it's just like a ghost town.

So I look back by and I go, "There's a grand a month again."

-"See you."

-Yeah.

I'm sorry, I'm...

No, you're all right. Are you all right?

Don't worry, it's...fine.

You just get days where you just feel hopeless.

It's bad enough living in a building that's...

You'll see Priory Hall, you'll understand what I mean,

but to know that our lives were put at risk needlessly...

It's just wrong, you know?

Are we able to still go in there? Is it safe enough to go in?

Well, we can go down and have a look.

Could we? Yeah, just have a really quick nose.

Probably has to be seen to be believed.

Priory Hall is in Donaghmede on Dublin's Northside.

Built at the height of the boom,

it was a development of starter homes aimed at first-time buyers.

The brochure promised dream contemporary-style homes

in a pleasant urban village, but what the hundreds of residents got

couldn't have been further from the advert.

-Is it up here, Sinead?

-Straight up.

-Up, straight up.

Okey-dokey.

-So this is you here?

-This is me. Oh, hi, Graham.

-Hey, how's it going?

-Hello!

'Like Sinead, Graham and his girlfriend took out a large mortgage

'to get on the property ladder.'

-Just seems such an awful time for you all.

-The whole thing's been a nightmare,

just an absolute nightmare.

Graham, I'm going to go in and grab a few bits and show Stacy around.

-Do you want to come in with us?

-Yeah.

-Are you sure?

-Yeah? Cool.

Welcome.

Home sweet home.

-It's like an empty shell.

-It is.

It's hard to believe these were our homes for the last four years.

I'm certainly no expert, but I know in the UK,

if you're putting buildings and properties up,

they have to, you know, pass certain regulations. Council have to check

and there's people in charge to make sure it's a safe environment.

Does that not go on here?

Ireland is one of the few countries in the developed world

that doesn't do inspections during construction.

The former president of the Royal Institute of Architects said

that Ireland's building control regime was on a par with Namibia's.

-In Africa?

-In Africa.

I mean, the developer, what's he saying?

Has he taken any responsibility?

He's expressed sympathy for the residents

-but he would claim this isn't his fault.

-Whose fault is it?

God knows, God knows.

He's now bankrupt, so he's not going to be part of any solution.

But we've huge mortgages. I spent a quarter of a million on my apartment.

I'm sure Sinead spent something similar.

There is no way we can pay that off.

We can never sell it, you can't live here,

so basically, whether we like it or not,

insolvency and bankruptcy may be the end of the road.

'I can't believe the predicament

'Sinead and Graham have found themselves in through seemingly no fault of their own,

'and given how many developments went up in the boom,

'this isn't an isolated case.'

Wow.

It's probably not the sight you envisioned

-when you bought the place.

-No, not at all.

-That's my dream home over there.

-Which one is yours, Graham?

-The first floor one.

-Is that you there?

-Yeah.

All your dreams come true, and then...

Not so much now.

That's where we were going to start our family and start our life

and now it's just turned into a nightmare.

I feel scared for the future.

Like, I should have been happily living here,

bringing you over for something to eat,

not showing you the wreck of what's left. It's just...

It's heartbreaking.

It doesn't even feel like a home any more. It's just a noose around our neck.

Sinead and Graham's lives are in limbo.

The council are pursuing the developer through the courts,

but as of yet have had no success.

They are also paying for them to live elsewhere,

but are now trying to stop this support

as they don't see private homeowners as their responsibility.

I've had a call from Sinead,

and she's asked me to join her on a protest outside Parliament.

They now see government intervention as their only hope.

-Sinead! How are you? How's things?

-Good to see you.

-What a turnout!

-I know, yeah.

-There's a fair few here.

-Yeah, there's a good few, thank God.

Thank God, yeah. And do you think anyone will come out

-and have a chat with you?

-I hope so, Stacy.

We've been out here every Tuesday lunchtime since October,

so we'd really hope that the Taoiseach and Minister Hogan

would come out and just show us some respect.

'It's the Irish Taoiseach,

'the Prime Minister, and the Minister for Environment

'who ultimately have the power to turn things around,

'but they're nowhere to be seen

'and I'm starting to understand why these people feel so frustrated.'

Heartbreaking that every week we stand here and they completely ignore us.

Nobody seems to want to help us at all.

We lived on the fourth and fifth floor with no means of escape.

If there had been a fire, we wouldn't have survived.

How old's your little one?

She's one next week, so she's been half her life homeless.

I also have a six-year-old, who was there for five years.

You know, and surely it's a right that we are entitled to

-to know that we were living in a deathtrap.

-Yeah.

It's been a couple of hours,

and soon the residents will need to return to work.

Their prime minister hasn't shown up,

but there is a TD, an MP from the ruling party that's come out

so I'm just going to go and have a quick chat with him.

'Terence Flanagan is their local MP,

'which means one of his responsibilities

'is to represent the people of Priory Hall at government level.'

Do you feel like in your heart, your party have honestly done enough?

The government are very interested in this issue.

We want this issue resolved. It will be resolved.

Unfortunately, we cannot intervene,

the Minister cannot intervene when there's a court case ongoing.

'The residents view this as a stalling tactic by the government

'as they have no involvement in the case,

'which is between the council and the developer.'

These people haven't had a chance to speak to the Prime Minister

cos he's not had the decency to come out.

Well, he doesn't actually leave the offices and come out...

Do you think it would be a decent thing of him to maybe do that,

just to show the people that he's here with them?

Be honest, it would be a decent thing to do, wouldn't it?

-Possibly, yes. Absolutely.

-But he's not done that.

No, he hasn't done that. Maybe if he was formally asked

-to come out to meet the people...

-He has been formally asked, Terence.

He's been formally asked for a matter of months.

How bad does it have to get?

Does something, really, does a fatality have to happen

for the government, for the Taoiseach to wake up?

All I can say is, this government,

we've inherited a complete mess economically.

But you're in power now,

so it's your responsibility to look after your people.

It's an absolute disgrace. And you are responsible.

You're responsible as our leaders, as our government,

so get your finger out and do something about it.

OK?

-OK, thanks.

-Terence, thank you for your time.

The residents feel absolutely, no question, gutted

by the way they've been treated by absolutely everyone involved.

The thing that winds me up the most

is just how ridiculously unfair this whole scenario is.

They've gone above and beyond to make sure they've done everything

legit and proper, and what was the point?

Because their lives have just been...hell

because they bought a home, a shoddy home in a shoddy development.

It isn't just young people who bought into property

that are now having a hard time. It's bigger than that.

This recession is affecting all young people in one way or another.

Since the big crash,

the amount of young people in Ireland without a job has trebled,

and now almost a third of my age group are unemployed,

compared to under a quarter back at home.

I'm off today to a careers fair. I think this is a great opportunity

to speak to loads of young people and see what is on offer for them.

'This is the largest event of its kind here, so I'm confident

'I'll find plenty of young Irish jobseekers to talk to.'

What is it like? We hear rumours, it's hard, it's tricky,

it's tough to get a job here. What's the reality?

It's pretty tough, I suppose. There's nothing really happening.

I don't see too many people hiring.

A lot of colleges, that's what you kind of see.

It's a tough job market.

-It's not easy.

-It doesn't sound easy!

-Absolutely.

Just going out with my law degree, it's not good enough any more.

It's crazy! A law degree is not enough.

What are you girls doing here?

We found out a couple of weeks ago we're going to be made redundant,

so we heard about this online,

so we said we'd come down and have a look and see what our options are.

-Do you think it will be easy to get another job?

-We have to.

-We have to, to pay the rent.

-Yeah, exactly.

Have you found it helpful today?

I don't think there's much opportunity here. I think the education system is good,

but I don't think the job system is, really, to be honest.

This is Ireland's largest careers and education fair.

It's the biggest one they do, and I've had a look around the stalls

and it does seem to be the vast majority are really pushing

to just further your education, keep taking these courses, do everything you can.

There's only three or four, there's a handful actually offering jobs,

offering recruitment, so that's a telling sign in itself.

'Unfortunately, the Irish companies who are recruiting

'choose not to speak to me,

'but I'm determined to get to the bottom of the job situation here.'

Genuinely, how hard is it to get a job here?

Erm...

-Really?

-Honestly, yeah.

-Honestly? It's impossible.

I'm here today more in hope than expectation.

I have not had an interview for a job in Ireland.

I have not had a positive response to a job application in Ireland.

-That's interesting.

-My last term of employment here in Ireland was...

I can't remember, actually.

-Really? It's been that long?

-Yeah, it's that long ago, yeah.

-Jeez.

-Yeah, maybe four years.

-And did you lose your job because of the recession?

-Yes.

I'd done a degree in psychology.

-Wow.

-And after that I got a Masters degree in social anthropology.

-Brian, you brainbox! And even you...

-Lots of people are well-educated,

this is the problem. They're just not employed.

-Yet they're still struggling to find work.

-Yes.

-I'm probably painting a pretty grim picture.

-No, but it's fascinating!

You've had your head in the books for years, you've trained,

you've worked really hard, there's absolutely nothing here for you

when you're ready to go out and earn.

Yeah, that's the fact of the matter. It really is.

This big event just wasn't as packed with young people as I expected,

but it's definitely been worth the visit.

I've managed to wangle myself a date with Brian and his pals,

which is great, I'm just so up for speaking to as many people as I can

just to get a real feel, so yeah, that's where I'm off to next.

I'm to the pub with a load of Irish lads.

Brian is from a town called Tullamore,

an hour outside of Dublin.

Areas like this saw rapid growth during the Celtic Tiger,

but have now become unemployment blackspots.

Just keen to hear his friends' side of things, really,

how's the recession affected them and their lives.

Brian! How are you?

-You well?

-Yes!

-Hello!

-Hello!

-Hi! I'm Stacey.

-Come on in, join us.

-Am I able to sit with the girls?

-Yeah, of course! Have a seat.

So how many of us here are in full-time employment?

-Uh, I'm obviously working.

-Just the one, yeah.

-You're the only one employed, are you?

-I think so.

-Wow.

At the moment I work in Aldi, the supermarket,

but before that, it's not what I planned to do.

-I did a degree in theology and sociology.

-Wow.

-And then I went on to do my Masters in journalism.

-Look at you go!

Yeah, but I came out of college at the worst possible time, so...

There was no jobs, and I was actually quite lucky

to get a job in Aldi, it took me a long time.

I know it's funny, like, happy to have a job in Aldi,

but I really was delighted to have something.

As much as I feel hard done by. There's a lot of people out there

who can't get any work whatsoever.

Tina's story will tell it all, you know. Masters, no job, Aldi.

Doesn't sound good, does it?

What is your line of work? What do you do?

Bricklayer.

We had plenty of work, but we laid all the bricks

so there's no more bricks left to lay.

So when it was kind of, I suppose, taken away from us,

all of a sudden, you're like, "What the fuck do I do?"

-That must change your life.

-It changes your life, yeah.

People do want to work, they just can't find it here,

so their hand is being forced. No work in Ireland,

you have to leave the country to work.

Last week, they were giving away visas up in Dublin

-for Canada and Australia, wasn't that right?

-Yeah.

But two days before that, there was people camping on the street

in queues waiting to get into the thing.

-No!

-Yeah.

-That's how desperate people are.

-That's how desperate people are, you know?

-To get away from here.

Yeah, to get away, that's just kind of, that's what's happening.

I love my country, but I'm not going to swear fidelity

to the land of Ireland, cos I'm going to leave this land

in order to make a better life.

I think one thing that's becoming very clear very quickly

is just how hard it is to get a job here in Ireland.

I appreciate it's tricky at home and even a couple of my friends

are finding it difficult to find jobs.

But if you think it's bad at home, I'd say it's five times worse here.

It's just...people are leaving,

fleeing the country in order to earn a living. It's that serious.

'The Irish leaving Ireland to find work isn't something new.

'My family themselves did it. But it sounds like this old trend is back.'

The reason I came here is because I was keen to know

how the young people were coping with the recession.

How do you live through an economic crisis?

One of the main things they're doing is they're off, they're leaving.

A lot of them are having to emigrate.

'I'm off to meet a family in Athenry

'who have already lost one child to emigration,

'and are preparing to say goodbye to another.'

Hello, you must be Ciara. I'm Stacey. Thank you for having me.

-Welcome to Athenry.

-Oh, thank you. It's nice out there. I like it.

-Is this the family home?

-Yeah.

-We've been here for, like, 20 years.

-It's lovely.

-Hello! How's things? I'm Stacey.

-Hi, Stacey, I'm Patricia.

Pleasure to meet you...

'Ciara graduated from one of the most prestigious universities

'in Ireland last year. But like everyone else on her course,

'she's been unable to find full-time work on home ground.

'So she's taken up a job offer in Australia,

'over 9,000 miles away.'

So now you're all qualified, you're a total speech therapist,

-yet you're having to go abroad. You're emigrating.

-Yeah.

-How long is it for?

-Four years.

-Wow. That's a long time.

-Yeah.

I have never even had, like, a phone contract for four years.

-D'you know anyone in Perth?

-My brother's already over there.

He emigrated four weeks ago.

So your son who went a month ago...

Our only son, we've only one son, so yeah, so he's gone.

Obviously, you'd much rather have them here,

but it is a chance for them to go off and get work.

They're certainly not going to get any work here.

I can't imagine having to leave my home country

just because I'm keen to work, and I can't find anything at home.

And how do you feel, girls? Big sister's off, four years.

What d'you reckon?

It's really sad, you know,

trying to keep your emotions in check and everything.

I've been asking her not to hug me recently.

So it's getting pretty bad now, but I mean...

Oh, don't worry, hon. You're all right, you're all right.

-It's hard, isn't it?

-Yeah.

-It'd be weird if you didn't get upset.

I hear that emigration was a big deal in the '80s,

a lot of people having to leave.

-We ourselves had to do that.

-Is that right?

Well, I met Tag in London,

but we wanted to raise our family in Ireland.

So we came back. We didn't think they would have to start emigrating

like we had to do when we were younger.

'Ciara's got plenty to do before she leaves.

'So I want to take this chance to find out

'how her mum really feels about waving off her eldest daughter.'

-Hi, Patricia, you all right?

-I'm fine, yeah.

-Just going to make a cup of tea.

-Good stuff.

How are you feeling?

Erm, fairly OK, yeah.

It'll probably hit me when the last few bits of packing are being done

and what have you. I was actually talking to someone this morning

and her daughter went for a year to Australia,

-and she's ended up being there ten years.

-No!

-Hmm, yeah.

It's so far away. Guess I just have to start saving.

'Sarah and Maeve are two of Ciara's closest friends

'and they've come round to help her prepare for the big move.'

Hey! How's things?

Hi.

Will we start on that box?

Yeah, all right.

-Are these photos?

-Yeah.

-Oh, God!

-THEY LAUGH

Stop it, is that Sarah?

-We are in primary school there.

-We're about ten.

Hang on a second, Sarah. You look exactly the same.

It's very Irish. You're all playing around in these lovely green fields.

I used to hang around under, like, a dirty bridge.

Like a troll.

Like a minging old troll.

You were sort of galloping through green fields.

Sarah, how long have you known Ciara?

-About 15 years.

-Oh, my God.

-How are you feeling about the move?

-It only really hit me last night,

and erm, then it was like, "Oh, no, it's real.

"She's actually going to the other side of the world."

I'm afraid that all my friends and my family think that

I'm coming home in four years' time.

Like, realistically, I don't know if I will.

I know I haven't got there yet or anything,

but will I come home?

Cos I'm moving, I'm going.

I think I'll be applying for my citizenship after two years

and staying on.

It's like, am I going to have to wait until I'm nearly 29

to start my settled life? D'you know what I mean?

-That's not realistic or fair.

-Putting everything on hold.

Yeah, putting everything on the long finger.

It's a tough one, you know.

It almost seems like, you know, we're being educated for export.

Because skilled, trained people,

they're the ones that are leaving

and it's not that we don't need them,

we just can't afford to employ them.

Doesn't the government pay for us to go to college as well?

We get free third-level education,

so you don't actually have to pay to go to university.

Everybody's getting the benefit of free education

and some other country is getting the benefit of that education.

Here we are sat in your living room, packing you away.

Well, I'm not individual in this.

You know, it's happening in other houses along this street.

Just the way it is, now.

My heart does go out to Ciara. She's sat in there with her pals

that she's spent most of her life with, special friendships.

But she's having to leave because she needs to work. It's...

It's a tough call, it's a big sacrifice to make.

'I'll be catching up with Ciara in a couple of days to say goodbye.'

'Now, I'm heading further into the countryside,

'where I've heard this surge in emigration

'is not just affecting families, but entire communities.

'Ireland's population is already 15 times smaller than ours,

'and they're now losing nearly 1,000 people every week.'

'County Clare is on the west coast,

'and around here, the pub is at the heart of the community.

'So I've checked myself in to the local to see what's what.'

-Hello!

-Hello.

-How are you?

-I'm excellent.

What's your name?

Martin. Man of the house. Would you like a drink?

-Will I have a drink?

-Have a glass of Guinness.

A Guinness, yes. So what's going on here tonight?

Very little. God be with the days

when the pub would be packed this hour of the evening.

-But it's a Friday!

-Yes.

Those good days are gone.

You know, the recession, kids emigrating.

We've lost a generation, the 20-year-olds to the 30-year-olds.

It's crazy, isn't it? Emigration is such a big deal over here,

so much more than back at home in England.

Well, you wouldn't notice in big cities. Take the likes of London,

you wouldn't miss 100,000 people out of London,

where we'd miss 40 people out of a little parish like Cooraclare.

We've four boys and the four of them are in Australia.

-Every one of your sons has had to leave?

-They're gone.

It was our dream that they would not have to emigrate.

And then the bubble burst and then you have to go to the airport,

and the feeling that you have there,

hugging a guy that you hugged when he was four years of age,

and he's crying and you're trying to say, "OK, take it easy."

You walk away with a lump in your throat. That's the toughest part.

That's heartbreaking.

It's like as if we have failed a generation.

-Oh, my God, that's really sad.

-Yeah.

The Tubridys are in this house 110 years.

-So your dad had it?

-My grandfather and grandmum had it.

My mum and dad had it, and then myself here.

The four boys were the next generation. Question mark.

The two grandkids are after those. Question mark.

You can't answer that question, you know. I was thinking about this,

and I said I was going to write a little poem.

-Would you like me to sing it?

-I would love you to sing it.

# The countryside is empty

# Old stone houses in decay

# The older folks are dying

# And the youths are going away

# But the few of us that's left around

# Are trying to replay

# The music, songs and stories that we heard from yesterday. #

-Woo!

-APPLAUSE

-That's a beautiful song, Martin. Thank you.

-You're welcome.

-I really mean that, thank you.

-Good talking to you.

It's not a small thing that's going on here. It's massive.

He said to me, "We've lost a generation."

And you only have to speak to him for a short while

to realise what a devastating effect

the young people leaving has on families, businesses, everything.

'One age-old tradition that is being threatened by emigration

'is Gaelic football. Ireland's most popular sport has been around

'for hundreds of years and has been described

'as "the spiritual core of the nation."'

Believe it or not, this morning I am off to go

and hang about with two football teams. All I've heard is,

since people have been leaving

they've found it tricky to keep the tradition going.

I'm going to go and have a play, have a chat and see what's what.

'Today's game is between two neighbouring villages,

'who have been bitter rivals for generations.'

Going to see if I can have a word with them in the dressing room.

Got to speak to them somewhere.

See that jersey you're wearing? That jersey represents this club.

It represents this area.

My own father wore that jersey.

Probably your own father wore that jersey.

Don't let your club down today, OK? Give it everything.

Right, are you ready? ALL: Come on, boys!

Are you ready?! ALL: Come on, boys!

Right so, off you go! Come on!

We're expecting big things from you, Stacey, yeah?

-Expectations.

-We need all the help we can get here.

Listen, I'm raring to go.

Another day at the office,

investigating what's going on in the world.

STACEY LAUGHS

I know you guys are struggling to get the numbers.

Boys are leaving all the time now.

With emigration and work, work is scarce

so we are tight enough in numbers

so everyone is important in a small area like this, you know.

STACEY LAUGHS

It's a really big deal here. It holds the communities together.

It's part of what you guys are.

Well there's a very strong tradition, a lot of pride in the clubs.

There's a big effort, not just by the players

-but by the women and children in the area.

-Troops rally round.

-Exactly, yeah.

-It would be a shame if you couldn't continue to do this.

It would be, yeah, definitely.

'With the game over, I want to find out from the boys how they feel

'about the threat to their way of life.'

Is the worry there that this isn't going to be able to continue?

You don't want to be the generation that dissolves the club.

All our fathers, grandfathers even, they have played for the club

so you just want to keep it going for as long as possible,

if it is possible to keep it going.

How many lads have you lost to emigration?

About eight, and that's massive for us.

They'd all be starting on the team.

So that is a big deal, it's half the team gone.

You're not going to stop them leaving, either.

There's huge amounts leaving and loads of teams are finding it hard.

-This isn't an isolated case.

-No, this is...

-..it's representative of rural Ireland.

-Exactly.

What would this area be like if the football was no more,

if so many people left

that they couldn't physically get the teams together.

-What effect would it have?

-It would be massive.

A lot more than just playing the game as well.

There isn't much else happening, to be honest. It's a focal point.

If things did pick up, you would see a lot of these people coming home.

Their heart is in this area.

Yeah.

You do worry that if young people aren't here any more,

to carry on the traditions and live the way their dads lived

or their grandfathers lived, things will change.

It won't be the same as it was.

The identity of this place will be lost.

Thankfully, not every young person in Ireland is leaving.

After an in-depth search, I have discovered a group o twenty-somethings,

who have decided enough is enough.

I'm off to the offices of Hireland.

Hireland is a group of young people who have taken it upon themselves

to create jobs here. They're actually creating jobs.

I'd love to know how they are doing that. I can't wait to meet them.

Hireland's approach is simple.

They've been contacting companies around the country,

asking them to hire one additional person.

Hello.

Hi, I'm Stacey.

The group of volunteers came together 9 weeks ago with a budget of just 147 euros.

How important is it for you to make sure that

young Irish people aren't emigrating all the time?

It's hugely important.

What we want to get out of it is we can live and work in Ireland.

We can have families, we can settle in Ireland.

Your option isn't just emigrating.

It's not just employees that are leaving,

it's brothers, sisters, sons, daughters that are leaving.

It is emotional. It's our friends as well that are leaving.

That's what we want to do to say, "Your skills are needed in Ireland.

"We need you guys to work to help this get going."

Do a lot of people know about you?

We launched January 12th, 2012

and already we've had over 3,500 pledges.

It's just been really buzz.

Wow!

I think it's a brilliant idea. I'm totally pro-Hireland.

I'm totally with you all!

It's a big day for these guys.

They've got a meeting with the Irish Times

to try and get the paper to give them free publicity.

-Will we get a move on? Ready?

-Sounds good.

It's essential for them to increase their profile, if they are to meet

their goal of creating thousands of job opportunities.

-How are you feeling, Sarah?

-Nervous.

-A bit nervous?

I'm a bit nervous, weirdly. Butterflies in my tummy.

-But nerves are good.

-Nerves are good.

It means it's really important.

It's an important thing. You've got to do it. Get on with it.

-Then we'll be thrilled when he gives us the thumbs up.

-The big yes.

Everything is riding on today.

Without the backing of a major player like the Irish Times,

Hireland's mission of curbing the current wave of emigration

may remain a pipe dream.

There's a lot riding on it.

They could be stopping thousands of people from leaving the country.

It's a big deal for Hireland and for the young people here.

Hi. You're welcome.

Hireland have got just one hour to convince editor Kevin O'Sullivan

that their concept is worth investing his time and money in.

When we came with this plan, we had set out to get more businesses to make a pledge

to employ people by the end of the year.

We've got this idea for you.

The "Hirish" Times.

APPLAUSE

If you can imagine the year 2022, Ireland is perfect.

The economy is robust, there's no unemployment,

society is vibrant,

even the weather in the summer is perfect.

What would reporters write about?

We want journalists from the Irish Times

to write positive news of what Ireland will look like in 2022.

The theory is that by presenting a positive image of the future,

companies will pledge more jobs to make this vision a reality.

Rather than leaving, young people will realise

there is a life for them in Ireland.

We want you to print off 10,000 copies of the Hirish Times.

The Irish Times will run as normal on the same day.

Who benefits from this?

The first one is Hireland. Hireland gets more publicity.

It gets more pledges. The second is job seekers.

Employers will pledge. More people will get employed from this.

Finally, most importantly, the Irish Times.

Thank you for your time.

The presentation was superb. Superb and the positivity

was genuine.

We believe in the concept of Hireland.

Your suggestion of 10,000 extra copies is very modest.

Why not make it 50,000?

We want to work with you and we need to work together

to bring it to the next stage.

It will have a significant impact - I have no doubt about that.

Good luck. Fantastic. Well done.

-We'll talk!

-Yes.

Oh, my God! You guys were out of this world. Amazing!

I can't believe it.

It's surreal but it happened and it went well.

It was great!

I am positive about what can come up from this.

It's nice to hear...positive things going on.

You guys are taking the initiative to do it.

Being given the thumbs up means Hireland are one step closer

to getting thousands more companies to create new job opportunities.

Brilliant day for Hireland. I'm pleased for them.

If this grows the way they want it to,

people like Ciara won't have to stay in Australia for ever.

There'll be jobs to come home to.

Ireland will pick itself up again

and people will be able to come home and work.

Big things to come, I think!

You hope for Ireland that there will come a time

when there's enough work here for everyone.

But that's not going to happen overnight.

For Ciara, it's not come soon enough.

It's almost time for her to leave for Australia. Her friends and family have arranged a get-together

so they can say their goodbyes.

This one?

Ooh!

This is your crowd.

Hi!

ALL: Hi!

It's nice to meet you all.

ALL TALK AT ONCE

Oh no!

It wasn't supposed to have that effect!

What have your pals written?

"Best of luck in Oz. I hope you have a great time.

"All the best on your new job."

Very nice. It's lovely, guys.

Compose yourself, woman!

-Do you think it's hit you that tonight you're leaving?

-Yeah. It's full on.

"This is it. You're going.

"Like it or lump it."

It's not that I'm going because I want to go.

I'm going because I have to go.

It's like my arm has been twisted.

I have to go and that's it. And you're leaving. Just deal with it.

-I know there are bigger things going on in the world but this is the biggest thing in my world.

-Yeah.

It's huge.

I'm leaving where I was brought up for the last 20 years.

I'm leaving all my friends and leaving my family

and I'm going to be alone.

I'm going to be on my own.

As the night goes on, the enormity of what Ciara is about to do

really hits home.

I know Australia is a lovely country and there's opportunities there

but it's important to remember she hasn't chose

to go and have a year in Australia and travel.

You know. She's going to be 29 by the time her contract finishes.

That's a long time.

She's not going travelling, she's going to live alone

in Australia.

She's leaving her family...behind.

Ciara's flight's leaving in just a few hours.

I'm on my way to the airport to see her off.

I'm dreading it. I don't...really want to see her get upset.

Big day for the family.

You have to try and be positive for her.

It's going to be tough for her.

I feel made up that they've let me come along

and see what effect...the economic crisis can have on families,

on real people.

Hello! How are we all?

How are you, love?

All right? How are you feeling?

-Nervous.

-And Mum and Dad?

Numb I would say at the moment.

It's finally here. She's heading off.

-Will we go in?

-Yeah.

-Cool. Let's go.

I can't imagine what the family are going through.

This is the second time they've had to do this in a matter of weeks.

-Stacey...

-Good luck!

-I hope you love it.

-I hope so too.

THEY TALK AT ONCE

Watch out for them sharks!

Thanks for letting me spend time with you. I appreciate it.

-I hope you're really happy out there.

-I hope so too.

Good luck.

-This is it.

-Yeah.

-You just go through there.

There's a big shopping area inside for travellers.

I think Ciara's gutted.

I think Ciara doesn't want to go.

I admire her. I don't think I could do it.

You've got to remember it's Mum's second time waving a child off.

My mum's only got two girls. That would be her on her own.

I'll go home and light a candle.

I just hope it really works out for her.

I do.

Bye.

Go.

There you go.

My time in Ireland has come to an end.

What I've experienced here has made me

seriously think about our lives back home.

Young people here are having a rougher time than at home.

That's tough and then you think,

"It's not there fault, they didn't put themselves in that situation."

The people you're supposed to trust

the politicians and the bankers and all the people who are supposed to

look after you and your generation and your country,

to make sure you're never in a crisis,

that's exactly what's happened here.

We're not far. We're not far from home. It's next door.

Then you think, "Could this happen at home?"

It makes you think, "Do I need to look more into politics,

"Do I need to get more into the economy side of things?"

I could be in the same boat as a lot of the young people I've met here.

I could be struggling.

You should never think it could never be you cos it could!

Next week I'm in Japan

where despite being one of the richest countries in the world,

the economy has been flatlining for over 20 years.

THEY SHOUT

I'm shocked by what lengths my generation are having to go to

just to bag a job.

I don't think you can understand the enormity of it

until you come somewhere like this.

I discover how hard it's become to find a husband.

What is your job? Where do you work?

Have you been dumped by somebody?

-SHE LAUGHS

-Yes!

And witness what it means to fall through the cracks

in a country used to success.

Can you imagine staying somewhere like this for a couple of years?

I can't. I'd lose my mind.

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